Having a productive Friday so far? Good, we're glad. But chances are that whatever you're up to doesn't quite match the morning of astronauts Shane Kimbrough (NASA) and Thomas Pesquet (ESA), who are—at this very moment—out in the vacuum of space upgrading the International Space Station (ISS).

The pair stepped out into the cosmos (literally) at around 6:30 a.m. ET and will remain there until around 1 p.m. ET. They are installing new lithium-ion batteries and adaptor plates on the outside of the spaces station ISS, and you can watch it all live in the video below.

This is the second spacewalk for the mission; last week Kimbrough and NASA's Peggy Whitson (who stayed inside for this walk) installed three adaptor plates for the batteries. This will be the multinational mission's (officially Expedition 50) last walk, but it will continue running other science experiments through March 4.

Spacewalks are carefully choreographed endeavors for which astronauts spend months preparing. I had an opportunity to interview two-time spacewalker, NASA astronaut Mike Massimino a few months back and he talked about some of the experiences he had fixing the Hubble spacecraft (see the embed below). Aside from all the regular hazards that come from a human being entering such a literal alien environment (the lack of air, the lack of gravity, the unmitigated radiation, the wild temperature swings), Massimino talked about the threat of micrometeorites which shoot like bullets. Spacewalks are no small undertaking.

Good luck, astrofolks! (Try not to think too hard about it being Friday the 13th.)

About the Author

Evan Dashevsky served as a features editor with PCMag and host of live interview series The Convo. He could usually be found listening to blisteringly loud noises on his headphones while exploring the nexus between tech, culture, and politics. Follow his thought sneezes over on the Twitter (@haldash) and slightly more in-depth diatribin' over on th... See Full Bio

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